Episode 2 Rhys Jones's Wildlife Patrol

$:/STARTFEED. Welsh wildlife is under attack. I'm on frontline

trying to protect it. Our 5,000 native species of birds, mammals

and reptiles. This is fresh. threatened Daily, by illegal

activity. Black Swan. Vandals. was a slow worm cooked right

through Ayalon yen invaders. That is not happy. I'm Dr Rhys Jones,

and from my laboratory at Cardiff University I work with the police,

wildlife groups and concerned members of the public. Tell me the

story of exactly how you found him. In the fight to save our animals

from humans and humans from animals. Everybody stay still. In this

programme we have owls with insomnia. A wash and blow dry

buzzard. And an unlicensed seafront snake wrangleer feels the full

force of the law. With over 50 wildlife incidents reported to

Welsh police forces every month, I'm kept busy as a scientific

consultant and licensed handler of dangerous wild animals. The listing

is lethal, and is like lightning. Working extensive low with wildlife

crime officer, C Mark Goulding, half of my work is out in the wild

looking at crime, and the other half is looking as what happens

when humans keep wild animals themselves. In all my years in the

field, by far the strangest case I have ever worked on was just about

to unfold in front of my disbelieving eyes. First PC

Goulding and I had a call about a man on Porthcawl seafront dressing

as a Native American, and charging people to have their photo taken

with a snake collection. Now we have had a further call from a

concerned grandmother who is worried about an identity she

allowed the Porthcawl trader to put around her granddaughter's neck.

Lynne O'Hagan and her granddaughter Callie returned with a souvenir of

the occasion. My daughter and I dook my grandchildren down there

last week, we saw this gentleman. We let our granddaughter have a

photograph done. I didn't know what makes they were. I did ask him he

said it is the biggest snake in the world. It is a Reticulated Python.

Native to south-east Asia, Reticulated Python are non-venomous,

but the world's longest snake species. They can grow up to 27-

feet long and notoriously tempermental, they hold their prey

and squeeze the life out of it. I'm not saying they could kill a human,

but they could in inflict a serious injury to a young girl.

They are known to be very unpredictable. If I had known what

they could do I wouldn't have subjected my granddaughter to have

her photograph taken. Time for a strip to Porthcawl.

Just because -- a trip to Porthcawl. Just because a snake is not

venomous, doesn't mean it is not dangerous. If you have an animal

growing to 30-foot and does kill people in Asia, it is a dangerous

animal. Although this one is not that big, it is not suitable to be

on public display. Porthcawl seafront, and the

gentleman we are looking for, who calls himself Dr Mangas Colaradas,

isn't hard to spot. Who did you get permission to do this? I have done

it for over 30 years, on private ground you don't need to have

permission. Do you have third party insurance? No. What have you got?

Reticulated Python, Burmese pie thon, and a Boa Constrictor.

will assess the health and well being of the snakes and then see

what they are doing. Dr Moralez has several snakes with them. They

appear to be in good health but there are other issues, he's

working without a performing animals license and no public

liability insurance. These snakes are displayed in far from ideal

units, but my main concern is the Reticulated Python put around

Callie's neck. I'm very concerned about the

Reticulated Python, particularly. would never allow them. With

children what snakes would you allow? On very small children the

corn snake. On the under teenager the boas. Under no circumstances

that wouldn't be allowed out. is just for show. Of course this

denial is simply not true. But then being less than truthful in front

of a police officer is not actually a criminal offence. By this point

my eye had already been drawn to another worrying sight. A sweet jar

jammed with dead snake. Can you explain what is here? They are just

for show. Can I ask how to you came to be in possession of a dead Hog

Noses? He died on me. Over a number of years. All of these animals have

died whilst you have had them? Normal causes.S What this one here?

That one I had that one in a Chinese restaurant and they gave it

to me. It looks like a cobra. I couldn't say. It also looks like a

cobra. I suspect it might be an endangered and highly protected

species of cobra. I now need PC Goulding to step in. First of all I

will seize the two containers, I want this and that to be

investigate today see if there was any offences committed. The second

thing is, you don't have any third party insurance in place, as

disclosed by yourself, therefore you can't trade here doing this for

money. So what I want you to do is pack up all your snakes now, while

we go into this further. You need to hold a performing animal license,

OK, to do what you are doing. At the moment you are no longer

trading here, until you get a performing animal's licenses, you

confirm there is third party insurance, at the end of the day if

you are putting Reticulated Python around the necks. I'm not. I have

evidence you have. If that child gets bitten you need the cover.

understand what you are saying, when did the license come out?

has been out since 1925. Goulding closes down the stall, he

seizes the dead specimens for analysis and leaves the live snakes

with Dr Colaradas. The law as it stands means he doesn't require a

license to keep any snake, even the Reticulated Python, which once it

is a fully grown adult, when fully grown it will take a number of

reptile experts to handle it. At the moment it is the jar of dead

snakes that requires further investigation. We will return to

this case later in the programme. When it comes to their interactions

with humans, wildlife get themselves into all sorts of

unexpected pickles. I have seen hedgehogs stuck in jam jars a snake

wrapped around a car general, and a squirrel trapped in a wardrobe.

When my friend Malcolm Jones from the Ebbw Vale Owl Sanctuary ask if

I could help with a bird covered in oil. I shouldn't have been

surprised it turned out not to be a seabird but a buzzard.

Is this The Buzzcocks? Goodness me, look at that. He's absolutely

saturated. How did that happen? must have gone into a container of

fat, and he was left on a woman's doorstep in a box. She took it to

the local vets, they phoned me up, I went down, and they said what's

mart with the bird. I said he as covered in cooking fat, I said you

have to bath him. And he they said how, I said get a load of squeezey

bottles and get it all out. buzzard covered in chip fat oil,

how does that happen? We have a really healthy buzzard population

in Wales, you will see them gliding and soaring over the towns as well

as field. That is because they are opportunistic hunters, who will

follow their prey, small animals and rodents wherever they go,

including urban landscapes where unexpected buzzard hazards lie.

Come to any town or city you will find a back lane like this, Indian,

Chinese and Italian restaurant, they all have one thing in common,

they all cook with oil. Most restaurants will store their used

oil in containers like this, and they are sealed on the top and

poses no real threat to wildlife. Others leave their old oil in a

container like this. If you left an open container out, it is not just

going to have oil in but pieces of food as well. You can imagine the

local veerm minute population sticking their nose in and get --

mer minute population sticking their nose in and getting a feed.

If you were a buzzard and you saw that, and you would swoop in by

landing on what he perceived as a hard shiny surface, only to realise

at the last minute he was plummeting into oil. Once he has

gone in there he is not flying out. These are raptor feather, they

delicately interact with the air currents. Look what happens when

you put them in the oil. They are saturated. Imagine if that was

every feather on the bird's body, there is no way it could take back

to the air. The only solution for our buzzard is to start a deep-

cleansing course. She's going to have to be washed every couple of

weeks with a mild, non-chemical baby slam poo, until she felts all

of her -- shampoo, until she melts all her feathers. Despite all the

protests, this is the only way to do it. You have to be cruel to be

kind. In the wild she would be unable to fly, hunt, fend for

herself or keep out the cold. Because the oil is Stopparding her

from preening and fluffing her feathers, she could be susceptible

to pneumonia, hence the hair dryer treatment. I'm confident this

buzzard will be ready for release, and hopefully she will stick to a

fat-free diet! Earlier in the programme PC Mark Goulding and I

seized a sweetie jar of dead snakes from a trader on Porthcawl seafront.

I'm bringing that jar to my laboratory at Cardiff University,

my concern is some of the snakes could be protected under CITES, the

Convention on International trade on endangered species. CITES a

worldwide treaty, aimed to prevent the movement of 30,000 listed

animals and plants. Nobody may possess, hold or sell any CITES

protected species without a permit. Anybody who does is potentially

committing an illegal act. I'm going to check the consents of the

jar, if any of these snakes are CITES listed we will have to make

the matter further. It absolutely reeked, a mixture of oil and

vinegar. They have had their insides removed. Normally if you

leave the gut in an animal, it will decay very quickly. Somebody knew

what they were doing. It looks more like a bush snake at the moment, it

could be a bloom slang, I will have to do a scale count. We count the

individual scales around the eye and at different points on the

snake to give me a positive ID of the species. It is just disgusting.

Another possible Boomslang. There is not much debate about that one,

a cobra. Time to call PC Goulding. What was in big sweetie jar. Five

venom mus species so far. That is a real surprise. First of all we have

a Many Branded Krate, we have also got a Burrowing Asp. Burrowing Asp!

Two Boomslang. I don't know what to say at the moment. The one you will

be most worried about is there is a Spectacle Cobra there as well.

Spectator is CITES appendices II, it is a protected species in India.

I will have to speak to UK Border Agency, mainly because any parts or

derivatives of The Spectator, there has to be an im-- Spectacle Cobra,

there has to be an import license. I haven't seen a list of snakes

like that alive or dead in this country in the public domain. I

didn't expect a jarful of venomous snakes in a jar on the seafront,

this is South Wales. Suddenly the case has gone from a simply closing

down from a possibly well meaning to ill-informed street trader, to

one that could involve the possession of protected unlicensed

species. Further and of greater immediate concern Dr Colaradas has

stated that venomous snakes have died of natural causes in his care.

Does this imply that he was regularly handling venomous live

snakes, if so, has he brought any unlicensed snakes into the country.

By his own admission he travels between Spain, North America and

Wales, so the opportunity is there. As a matter of public safety it is

a possibility that South Wales police force simply cannot ignore.

We are going in to look for, first and foremost, whether there are any

vein non-ous snakes there, that is why we have Dr Rhys Jones.

magistrate has granted the police, the UK Borders Agency, and the

department for Food and Rural Affairs, a warrant to access Dr

Colaradas's home address. (banging) He has tarantulas, a Golden Python,

a bowl of Boa Constrictor heads. Where have they come from? We have

a warrant here to search the property, is there anybody else in

the property? No. Is there anything in here you would like to tell me

about before we go in? No. Is there anything in here you shouldn't

have? No. Are you sure? Positive. The search of the house reveals

several tanks containing snakes. All of them in reasonable condition,

thankfully none of them vein non- ous. We were right in think --

venomous. We were right in thinking he was bringing them from abroad?

The Burmese Python has come from Spain, Malaga, he has a CITES

permit there. He has accounted for the two Hog Noses. Sadly, with the

reptile trade, as you know, the Hog Noses were actually sent in the

post, shockingly at the moment the Anaconda cannot be accounted for.

He says he bought it from North Wales for cash. He doesn't know the

person, has no receipts, but, of course, there is no offence. When

requested about the bowl of Boa Constrictor heads, Dr Colaradas

explains they come from snakes that have died in his care. We also

uncover a number of boxes containing other dead animal parts.

Everything from what looked like buffalo horns to budgies, none of

these are from protected species, no offence has been committed. We

do seize a pair of bird wing that is we expect are from a protect

European Eagle Owl. We come across a number of deactivated guns,

knives and cross bows. It is an odd assortment, it appears that Dr

Colaradas is no more than an eccentric with curious interests.

Then we search his van... In the well of the passenger side door we

find several deaf vered animal paws and a knife -- severed animal paws,

and a knife, there is a domestic cat, dog and badger paw. It still

has fur all over it. It is not illegal to be in the possession of

protected cat, dog or fox paw, but it is an offence to have any part

of a badger. There is a lot going on. Some of it is really

frustrating. At the moment we have the feet of the badger, it is an

offence to be in possession of it. But I'm thinking further down the

line, I'm thinking about whether they will run a court case on

badger feet, and he was saying it is road kill and already dead. It

is a bit frustrating. Yeah, it is frustrating. Nevertheless, PC

Goulding has enough evidence to caution Dr Colaradas. Based on the

information I have got so far, I'm reporting you for the offence of

possession of badger parts and der rifives, I have to remind dr

derivatives, I have to -- derivative, I have to remind you

you are still under caution. Have you got anything to say? I think it

is petty. With Dr Colaradas cautioned, the case will be handed

over to the Crown Prosecution Service. We will back for the

conclusion later in the programme. As a scientist and ecologyist,

people ask me what I think about climate change, does it exist? My

one-word answer is, yes. How can I be sure? Because I'm seeing clear

examples in the natural world. Such as owls with sin someia. Barn owls

general -- with insomnia. Barn owls generally hunt prey in the dark,

and dusk and dawn is when they hunt. They don't hunt by day, unless it

is a really bad winter and food is scarce. When my friend, renowned

Welsh wildlife photographer, David Bailey, called me in early spring

to say he had been snapping not one but several barn owls, all hunting

in the daylight in the same Dorset location, I was so intrigued I

couldn't resist crossing the border and attempting to solve the

mistreatment What do you commonly see here? I moved away from the

areas eight years a I'm seeing things I didn't see eight years ago.

Red kites, I see them regularly. It shows how well they have bred and

spread. More recently I was photographing the hares and the

game keeper tipped me off about the owls. He asked had I seen them, the

numbers is what's interesting, there is not just one or two but

several hunting in the area. are saying daytime, what time of

day exactly? 12.0 on wards I have seen them. That is unusual. I have

seen them 4.00-5.00 towards twilight, that is not unusual. But

the mid-of the day is unusual. It is my guess that the -- middle of

the day is unusual. It is my guess that it is to do with the owl's

prey, I need to find out what they are eating and why? That is ideal

for barn owl, in and out of there easily. You don't see these on

farms any more. This is a perfect shelter for barn owl. The tractor

driver tells me they sit up there on the rafter.

In here? Yeah. It is too early for them to be roosting yet, these are

schedule 1 birds, under the wildlife act if they were roosting

we would have to be 30ms away. It would be interesting to have a peek

and see if there is anything. the beams here. You can see the

owls have been on there. Look at this. The pellets? Yeah. That's

barn owl. We can tell it is barn owl, they haven't a very acidic

stomach, so they don't digest the bouns as efficiently as other owls.

You can actually tell which bones they are there. It is incredible.

You could remake a little shrew skeleton. There is a female mur.

Look at that, fantastic -- femur, look at that. Fantastic. Shrews are

largely nocternal, if the barn owls are hunting them by day, what is

forcing the shrews to look for their shapele diet of worms, slugs

and snails. I think I have come up with an answer, I'm just about to

give my theory when a barn owl interrupts me. Dave, Dave, Dave,

There is another one. It was 2.00 in the afternoon, for the next 30

minutes we watched three barn owls hunting along the meadow and the

waterway, the theory as to why? Unpredictable weather patterns,

also known as climate change. You were here a couple of weeks ago,

how wet of the weather? Was it raining? It goes back to the

beginning of the year in January when I first visited the area, this

access road was flooded. It was blocked off. During the past few

weeks it has stopped raining. think that the owls couldn't hunt

whilst it was raining f it was flooded. It wouldn't have affected

their prey. They would have been fine. But the act is, that the

wings of owls are very porous, so they get soaked through very

quickly. The birds just cannot fly, they wouldn't have been able to

hunt. They would have been trying to come out now, but it is utterly

freezing, it is one of the coldest Marchs on record. We have starving

owl, unable to eat because of the flooding originally, and in this

cold, what it does is it changes the behaviour of the owl's prey

items. The mice, the shrews, instead of coming out at tonight

they will stay in, it is too cold, they will become active in the day.

If they are active in the day there is nothing to hunt at night. The

owls are forced to come out into the day. I truly believe that is

why the owls are hunt hading in the daylight. Yeah, yep. Back in

Swansea the Crown Prosecution Service has decided to pursue a

case against Dr Mangas Colaradas. He has been charged with the

illegal possession of badger parts and derivatives under the 1992

Protection of badgers act. -- Protection of Badgers Act, and also

the possession of illegal eagle parts, the maximum penalty he faces

is six months in prison. Prior to any trial I have been asked to

evaluate the parts in my lab at Cardiff University.

Dr Colaradas is claiming that the badger parts came from road kill he

happened upon in Spain over a decade ago. I think they are much

fresher. My belief is supported by my colleagues at the Cardiff School

of Biosciences, who also give written expert statements agreeing

that these parts are less than 12 months old.

Dr Kol is also claiming that the third wings belong to a European

eagle, I disagree, I believe they belong to a European eagle owl, the

possession requires a CITES approved license. To find out if

these are European eagle owl wing, I pay a visit to the national new

seem of Wales collection centre. Behind the many corridors and

drawers lie thousands of animal specimens. I'm hoping the curator

of mammals, will be able to give me his professional opinion as to what

she she is of bird these have come. It looks like an Eagle Owl wing, we

should have one in the collection. There we go. This is what we want

to compare that with. That wing could be coming off that owl.

a European Eagle Owl. No debate there. Armed with my own findings

as well as those of my colleagues I was looking forward to my day in

court. But it wasn't to be. Dr Mangas Colaradas turned up for his

pre-trial hearing at Swansea Magistrates' Court dressed in

Native American clothing. He caused quite a stir. Very soon he was

appearing in both the national and international press in head dress

and war paint stating that he was an Apache Indian and he lived

according to their practices and beliefs. He was further quoted in

the press as saying he ate his snakes when they died. Dr Colaradas

was issued with a court summons. His trial set for August of last

year. On the very morning the trial was due to go ahead the Crown

Prosecution Service decided they no longer wanted to pursue the case. A

I'm just a scientist, not a lawyer or legal expert, I have to respect

the experts' decision to drop this case. The problem for me lies in

the Badger Act itself, full of legal loopholes and quite frankly

it no longer fits the bill. In my opinion the Badgers Act is an

important piece of wildlife legislation, but if it is have any

future purpose, then the Welsh Governments and other relevant

bodies need to revisit and revise it. Whilst we are at it, we need to

look again at the Performing Animals Act, it is almost 90 years

old, and almost anyone can get a license from their council, as long

as they don't have a conviction for animal cruelty. We contacted Dr

Colaradas last week, on the issue of the Reticulated Python, he says

he only let the public handle snakes that will not bite. He said

he was unaware he needed a license for performing animals and had been

operating for 20 years without one and never been asked for one by the

authorities. He said the licensing system didn't seem to be used. He

has subsequently obtained one from Swansea council, and has got

insurance so he's operating legally. I do hope his Reticulated Python

stays at home. Next time, a mystery bird opens a

can of worms. Tell me exactly how you found him? Who is the lodger